"We Are Not Forgotten"

One of the last surviving members of a prominent Jewish family of carpenters in the Konkan villages about three hours south of Mumbai, India, 73-year-old Milka Waskar depends on the help she receives from Federation partner JDC to live.

A retired plantation farmer, Milka suffers from asthma and allergies, but she still loves to pray, attending holidays and festivals at the Rewdanda Synagogue and traveling for other programs and events when she can.

Milka lives with her 70-year-old sister, Shoshanna, a former municipal worker who suffers from diabetes. Both unmarried, they turn to JDC for financial support and medical assistance.

On the second Sunday of each month, Milka and Shoshanna travel an hour to a nursing home in a village 14 kilometers from where they live. There, a doctor examines the sisters and all of JDC’s other Indian welfare clients, prescribing medicines and carrying out other important medical follow-ups.

“JDC reminds us that we are not forgotten — that the global Jewish community cares about us in good and hard times,” Milka said.